Theft-preventing car-door.



C. W. WHITE.

THEFT PREVENTING CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29. 1915.

Patented May 30, 1916 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C.- W. WHITE.

THEFT PREVENTING CA'R DOOR. APPLICATION FILED-JULY 29, 1915.

" Patehted May 30, 191

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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' THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON, D. c

C. W. WHITE.

THEFT PREVENTING CAR DOOR.

APPLlCATlON man JULY 29,1915.

Patented May 30,1916.

SHEETSSHEET 3;

0. w. WHITE. THEFT PREVENTING CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29 Patented May 30, 1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4 g h w CHARLES W. WHITE, OF EAST ST. LOUIS,

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH T0 JOI-IN FITZGERALD, OF ST. LOUIS,MISSOURI, AND ONE-FOURTH TO JOHN W.

WRIGHT, OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS.

THEFT-PREVENTING CAB-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 34), rare.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CHARLES WV. VVHITE, acitizen of the United States, residing at the city of East St. Louis, inthe county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Theft-Preventing Car-Doors, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to doors, and particularly to doors for freightcars and the like, such, for instance, as for the wellknown type of boXcars in use on railroads.

In the use of freight cars closed by means of the sliding doors withwhichsuch cars are usually equipped, it has been found in practice that,even when said doors are locked and sealed in the customary manner,frequent loss of cargo has occurred through unauthorized persons gainingaccess to a car through the doorway without breaking lock or seal, onemethod of such unauthorized access being by means of prying the lowerportion of the closed door away from the car-body sufliciently to permitsomeone of slight build to enter through the gap thus formed and to passportions of the cargo out of the car through said gap, and,'in the caseof a car loaded with grain or the like in bulk, the unauthorized removalof all or part of the cargo through such a gap may very readily beaccomplished and has frequently been done. Moreover, in the case of afreight car carrying grain and being closed with sliding doors ofordinary construction, there may be loss of part of the cargo in transitbecause said doors may be warped out of shape and may therefore, or forany other reason, fail to close tightly over the openings of'thedoorways.

The present invention has for its object to provide a closure forbox-car doorways or the like whereby said doorways may be effectivelyclosed and locked in a simple manner against unauthorized accesstherethrough to the contents of said car, and, also, to provide aclosure which will effectively close said doorways against'lossbyleakage of grain or the like shipped in bulk.

Another object is to provide a closure for a car doorway or the likeconsisting of a plurality of separable members adapted to be slidablymounted in suitable guides therefor, and adapted, also, when not in useas a .bination and arrangement of parts described closure, to be movedseparately or in groups of two or more out of the way to appropriatestorage racks adjacent the roof of the car.

Another object is to provide a plurality of separable members slidablymounted in appropriate guides therefor adapted for partially or entirelyclosing the doorway of a freight car or the like depending upon thenumber of said members that are slidably adjusted to closing positionadjacent said doorway, and, adapted also to serve as loadretainingmeans, when in said closing position, for cargo, such for instance, asgrain in bulk loaded into the car.

Another object is to provide a closure of the character described withwhich a freight car or the like of ordinary construction may readily beequipped either after the car has been built or while it is being built.

Further this invention consists of the comin this specification and setforth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification whereinlike numbers of reference denote like parts wherever they'occur, Figure1 is a side elevation of a freight car with the two endportions brokenaway looking at the outside of a side of the body of the 'car at adoorway thereof, showing the closure of the present invention in closingposition in said doorway, the sliding door usually provided on freightcars being shown in open position; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of afragment of a freight car, on a lin substantially midway between thesides of the car, looking against the inside of the closure in closingposition in a' doorway, the ordinary sliding door, also, being closed;Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on the line 33,'Fig.2, on an enlarged scale, showing details of construction of the ends ofthe closure members and associated parts, a portion intermediate thesides of the doorway having been broken away; Fig. i is a transversesectional view of the body of a freight ear equipped with closuresembodying the present invention, said section being on a line across thecar between the sides of two opposite doorways, parts between the topsand bottoms of the a portion of the I doorways having been broken away,said view showing the closure in closing position in one doorway withthe ordinary sliding door, also, in closed position, the other doorwaybeing open and the separable sliding members of the closure being movedto stored position. on the storage racks adjacent the roof of the car;Fig. 5 is a side view showing details of construction of the storageracks and parts associated therewith and depicts the manner of removingthe racks from association with a car-body; Fig. 6 is a verticalsectional view on the line 6-6, Fig. 4, on an enlarged scale, showingdetails of construction of the rackhanger suspended substantially midwaybetween the two sides of the car-body; Fig. 7 is a vertical sectionalview, on an enlarged scale, showing details of construction of araclnhanger suspended near a doorway, and showing, also, a retainingdevice removably borne by the racks adjacent said rackhanger -adaptedfor holding the separable slidable members in stored position on saidracks; Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view on the line 88, Fig. 4, on anenlarged scale, showing further details of construction of the hangerand racks shown in Fig. 7, Fig. 8 showing a vertical cross-sectionalview of the hanger of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line9-9, Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale, showing details of construction ofthe separable member adjacent the sill of a door-way with aprying-pocket adjacent the lower edge of said member; Fig. 10 is asectional view on the line l010, Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale, showingdetails of construction of a prying pocket borne by each separablemember; Fig. 11 is a view in detail diagrammatically illustrating themanner of removing a separable slidable member from its guides, storagerack, and associated parts for the purpose of repair or for any otherpurpose; Fig. 12 is a fragmentary plan view looking at a longitudinaledge of a separable member; and Fig. 13 is a plan view looking at a sideof the fragment of a separable member shown in Fig. 12.

For illustration car-body 1 of the usual box-car type in use onrailroads may be provided with two opposite doorways 2 in the sides ofthecar-body, and the usual sliding doors 3 may be provided for saiddoorways. A pair of opposite members 4 may be provided borne adjacentthe inside of opposite vertical frames 5 of each doorway 2, said membersbeing adapted to extend upwardly substantially from floor 6 ofcarbody 1. toward the upper frame or lintel 7 of said doorway for adistance suitable for the purposes of this invention, as hereinaftermore particularly described, each of said members 4, as best seen inFig. 3, being adapted to form a vertical groove 8 and may comprise metalangleplate 9 provided with a forwardly turned flange 10 borne by theedge of one side of said angle-plate, the edge of the other side of saidangle-plate bearing a wearplate 11 adapted to lie adjacent the innerside of a door-frame 5 opposits-the flange-bearing side of saidangleplate. ear-plate 11 may be substantially wider than the fiangebearing side of said angle-plate and may, also, be of relatively lessthickness than said angle-plate, the details of construction and shapeof groove 8, angle-plate 9, flange 10, and wear-plate 11, together withtheir position in association with a door-frame 5 and other parts, beingbest seen in Fig. 3, wherein posts 12 are shown adjacent the back ofangle-plate 9, said posts being adapted to extend substantially fromfloor to roof of a car-body and may constitute part of the frame ofacarbody.

A plurality of separable door members 13 may be provided adapted toextend removably across a doorway 2 and being adapted, also, to beslidably mounted, one above another, in grooves 8 of a pair of members4, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the longitudinal edges of saidmembers being adapted to form closely fitting joints between eachseparable member and its next adjacent separable members, one form ofconstruction for said edges being shown in the drawings wherein saidedges are adapted to form rabbetted joints, as best seen at 14 in Figs.4, 10, 11, 12, and 13, it being, of course, understood that any otherwell-known construction of said longitudinal edges may be employed toform an intimate joint, such, for instance, as a groove and tonguejoint, a beveled joint, and the like. The lower longitudinal edge of aseparable door member 13 adapted to be adjusted adjacent floor 6 may bea substantially straight edge, as shown at 15 in the cross-sectionalviews in Figs. 4 and 9, which edge is adapted to rest flatly uponsill-plate 16 of a doorway 2, and upwardlyturned flange 17 borne by therearward edge of said sill-plate may be provided adapted to engage aportion of the rearward side of separable door member 13 adjacentthereto, as best seen in Fig. 4, thus providing means for forming anintimate joint between said edge of said separable member and saidsill-plate.

The transverse ends 18 of separable door members 13 may be substantiallyhookshaped, as best seen in Fig. 3 and as shown, also, in Figs. 12 and13, said ends being adapted to fit slidably in grooves 8 of members 4,there being suflicient play between adjacent parts of said member 4 andsaid ends of separable door members 13, as best seen in Fig. 3, topermit said members to slide freely in said grooves without binding. Awear-plate 19, made of metal or any other suitable material, may beprovided borne by the portions of said ends 18 adapted to be in slidableengagement with the adjacent wall of the flange-bearing side ofangle-plate 9, which wear-plate may, also, extend over the edge alongthe thickness of said ends, as best seen in Fig. 12.

Each separable door member 13 may be provided with one or more pockets20 borne by a surface of said separable door members which is turnedtoward the outside when said members are in closing position across adoorway 2 as illustrated in Fig. 1, said pockets being adapted toprovide suitable means for engaging the end of a bar or the like (notshown) with which to apply power to move saidseparable door membersupwardly in grooves S'against the pressure of the contents of the carupon the other side of said separable members, or for generallyfacilitating the work of moving said separable door members upwardly insaid grooves by an operator from the track-level or ground, theconstruction of a form of said pockets being depicted in plan view inFig. 1 and in vertical cross section in Figs. 4 and 10, wherein a recess21 formed in said surface of each separable door member 13 is lined withan appropriately shaped metal plate 22, said plate having a portion 23adapted to extend over upon the surface of said separable door memberadjacent said recess, the purpose of said lining 22 and said extension23 thereof being to protect said recess and the parts of said separabledoor member adjacent thereto from wear and from being battered orotherwise damaged in using said bar or the like in moving said separabledoor members in their grooves.

The separable door member 13 adapted to rest upon door-sill-plate 16adjacent floor 6 may be provided with one or more pockets 24 adapted toreceive the end of a crow-bar or the like (not shown), to facilitateprying said separable door member upwardly away from said sillplate andthus, also, moving upwardly such other separable door members 13 as maybe superimposed one above the other above said lowest separable doormember, a construction of said pockets 24 being shown in plan in Fig. -1and in vertical cross-section in Fig. 9, wherein a recess 25, which maybe triangular in cross section as shown in said Fig. 9, is formed in theoutside surface of said separable member adjacent its lower longitudinaledge, said recess being lined with an appropriately shaped metal plate26 held in place by means of one or more screws 27 or the like. saidrecess so formed and lined providing a means against which to bear theend of said crow-bar (not shown) to permit'same to be used as a liftinglever fulcrumed against the forward edge of sillplate 16 or the like,said plate 26 being adapted to protect said recess against wear.

A pair of transverse beams 28 may be provided adapted to extend acrossthe interior 'of car-body 1 adjacent roof 29, said beams beingappropriately spaced apart for the purpose of this invention and beingsupported in place by any suitable means. A pair of hangers 30, oppositeeach other, may be provided suspended from said beams near each doorway2, said hangers being secured to said beams by any suitable means, such,for instance, as by means of bolts 31 through ap propriate bolt-holes32. i The depending porwith a pair of lateral projections 33, one aboveanother, having pins 34 borne by their ends, each pin being adapted tosupport one end of a rack-bar 35 and36, there being two pairs of each ofsaid rack-bars, the other ends of said rack-bars being removablysupported in appropriate slots or openings 37 in a pair of hangers 38,said hangers 38 being secured by bolts 39 or the like to cross-beam 28substantially midway between the two opposite doorways 2, the pair oflower rackbars 35 and the pair of upper rack-bars 36' being adapted toextend from a pair of intermediate hangers 38 to and slightly beyond thepair of hangers 30 to form a set of stor age racks for a set comprisinga plurality of separable door members 13 slidably associated with onedoorway 2, and another pair of lower rack-bars 35 and another pair ofupper rack-bars 36 being adapted to extend from said intermediatehangers 38 to and slightly beyond the other pair of hangers 30 to form aset of storage racks for a set comprising a plurality of separablemembers 13 slidably associated with the other doorway 2, as best seen inFig. 4.

The pair of slots or openings 37 borne by each of the pair ofintermediate hangers 38 may be formed by looping the depending portionof said hanger upon itself and dividing said loop into two portions bymeans of a transverse partition 40 secured in place by any suitablemeans. Pins or the like 41 may be provided borne by hangers 38 withineach slot 37, said pins being adapted to serve as stops to limit theinward movement in said slots of the removable ends 42 of each set ofsaid storage racks, as best seen in Fig. 5. The other ends 43 of eachset of storage racks may protrude slightly forwardly of theircorresponding hangers 30 toward a doorway 2, said ends 43 of the lowerpair of rack-bars 35 of each set of racks being adapted to projectforwardly beyond said hangers 30 relatively farther than thecorresponding ends 43 of the upper pair of rack-bars 36 of that set ofracks, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the construction and arrangement ofparts being such that tron of each of said hangers may be provlded therewill be. a sufiicient gap between said ends 43 ends of the correspondingpair of groove bearing members 4 to permit each separable door member 13to be moved from said vertical groove-bearing members 4 to horizontalrack-bars 35 and 36, beveled portions 44 of rack-ends'43 being adaptedto facilitate said movement of said separable members from the positionshown in doorway 2 on the right hand side of Fig. 4 relatively to thestorage position shown on the left hand side of intermediate hanger 38in said Fig. In order to permit any one or all of a set of separabledoor members 13 to be entirely removed from operative association withthe storage racks and a doorway 2 for any purpose, such for instance, asfor repair, and to permit same again to be remounted in operativeassociation with said parts without removing one or more rackbars 35 and36 or without removing one or both of a pair of groove-bearing guides 4,the gap between ends 43 of each of a pair of lower rack-bars 35 and theupper ends of each of a pair of groove-bearing guides 4 is madesutliciently great to provide that each separable door member 13 may beslipped edge-wise in and out of said gap, as clearly illustrated in Fig.11, wherein the full width of said gap is pointed out by oppositearrow-head 45 to be greater than the thickness of each slidable doormember 13, beams 28 having a cut-out portion 46 at their ends to permitsaid separable door members to be tilted, as shown in said Fig. 11, inthe process of removing same through said gap. In order to prevent aslidable door member 13 from slipping out through gap 45 when beingmoved past said gap guides 4 to the storage rack and the reverse, aremovable block 47 or the like may be provided borne by the inwardportion of each member 4 acent the upper end there of and removablyattached thereto by any suitable means, said block being adapted topartially bridge said gap suiiiciently to narrowthe opening thereof toless than the thickness of a separable door member 13, as clearly shownby the dotted outline of block 47 and a separable door member 13adjacent thereto in said Fig. 11. Normally block 4. is in place inobstructing position, but when itis desired to open said gap for thepurpose of removing or inserting thereto a separable door member 13,said block may be re moved.

Each rack-bar is spaced apart from its companion rack-bar 35. v and eachrack-bar is spaced apart from its companion rackbar 36 a suitabledistance to provide 'tl at the grooves of hook-shaped ends 18 of eachseparable door member may slidably engage the upper edges of saidcompanion rack bars, hangers 38 being adapted to prevent of each set ofracks and the upper the movement of said separable door members inwardlyon said racks beyond said hangers, and the construction of parts adjacent hangers 30' being such that the upper edge of each rack-bar 35, 36may extend above its adjacent projection 33 to provide that saidseparable door members may slide freely on said rack-bars over saidprojections, the vertical space between a lower pair of rack-bars 35 andan upper pair of rackbars 36- associated therewith, and between saidupper pair of rackbars and the lower edges of beams 28 being adapted tothe thickness of separable door members 13 to he slidable therebetween.

A rack-bar 35 and a rack-bar 36 secured to their hanger 30 may beremoved from posi tion in a car-body 1, shown in Fig. 4, by removingbolts 31 from bolt-holes 32 and then withdrawing ends from openings 37in hanger 38, as illustrated in Fig. 5, thus mak ing convenient theremoval of a portion of the storage racks for repairing same or for anyother purpose without disturbing other portions of said racks.

A. brace-rod 48 may be provided associated with each hanger 38, saidbrace-rod having one end secured to said hanger at 49 and having itsother end secured to an adjacent carline at 50, as best seen in Fig. 6,by any suitable means, and a brace-rod 51 may be provided associatedwith each hanger 30, said brace-rod 51 having one end secured to saidhanger 30 at 52 and having its other end secured to an adjacent purlingor other part of the frame or": car-body 1, as best seen in Fig. 2, byany suitable means, said bracerods being adapted to strengthen and stitten the structure of the storage racks.

To provide means for locking a plurality of separable door members 13 inclosing position in a doorway 2, shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and in theright-hand doorway in Fig. 4, a pin 54 may be provided for eachside-frame 5 of said doorway, said pin being adapted to be removablyborne in a socket 55, which may be sunk through wear-plate 11 and intoeach side-f ame 5,said pin having a portion adapted to protrudeoutwardly from said socket, said portion being adapted to en gage theupper longitudinal edge of the topmost of a plurality of superimposedsepa rable door members in closing position in a doorway 2, thuspreventing the upward movement of said separable door members in theirgrooved guides 4. A form of construction of pin 54 in looking positionis shown in detail on the lefthand side of Fig. 3, wherein a shoulder 56borne by said pin is adapted to limit the depth to which said pin may beinserted into socket and a bent portion 57 of its protruding portion isadapted removably to engage flanged edge 10 of angle-plate 9 to wedgesaid pin firmly in place in looking position, one end of chain 58 beingsecured to said bent portion of pin 54 and the other end of said chainbeing secured to post 12 or any other suitable p0rtion of the frame ofcar-body 1 to prevent pin 54: from being lost or misplaced when removedfrom socket, 55 and not in use as a locking device.

A removable guard 59 may be provided adapted to be hooked over an upperrack-bar 36 and extend downwardly to and under the adjacent lowerrack-bar 35, said guard being adapted to be so disposed on said rackbarsbetween the rearward edge of each hanger 30 and the hook-shaped ends 18of separable door members 13 stored in each set of racks, there beingtwo guards 59 provided for each set of storage racks, and for preventingsaid guards from being lost or misplaced when not in use, each guard maybe secured to one end of a chain 60, the other end of said chain beingsecured to an adjacent post 19. or to any other convenient part of theframe of car-body 1, the purpose of said guards being to prevent theseparable door members 13 stored in said storage racks from being shakenor otherwise moved forwardly from stored position past hangers 30 by therocking of a moving train or the like, a suitable form of said guardbeing shown in detail in guarding position in Fig. 7. It is, of course,understood that if the construction and location of any carline 61 or apair of said carlines is suitable for the purposes for which a beam or apair of beams 28 is provided, said beam or beams may be omitted and theappropriately constructed and located carline or carlines may besubstituted therefor, and, it is, of course, also, understood that inconstructing a new carbody 1 to be equipped with the closure embodyingthe present invention, the framing thereof may be so constructed andarranged that members thereof may be used in association with the partsof this closure without adding special beams, such, for instance, asbeams 28.

Separable members 13 may be made of wood of suitable thickness toprovide the necessary strength for a stout closure, and, in practice, ithas been found that the width of a member 13 may be such that when afull set comprising, for example, fourteen members 13, as shown in thedrawings, are in place in closing position in a doorway 2 of ordinaryconstruction, an oblong opening will be formed between the topmostmember 13 and the top of said doorway, as best seen in Fig. 1, saidopening being in the nature of a hand-hole through which locking pins54: may be reached for inserting same into and removing them from socket55 to lock and unlock said closure from the outside of the car.

In operation, each doorway 2 having been closed to a suitable height bymeans of sliding a set of a plurality of separable door members 13 inclosing relation to the doorways, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and in therighthand doorway in Fig. 4, and pins 5t having been placed in socket 55with bent portion 54 in engagement with the adjacent edge of a flange10, as best seen on the left-hand side of Fig. 3, sliding door 3 may bedrawn to closing position in front of said doorway and in front of saidseparable door members in closed position in said doorway, and seal 62,Fig. 3, may be applied in the usual manner to seal said sliding door inclosing position. The doorways are thus securely closed againstunauthorized access to the interior of car-body 1, for, even should anintruder pry the lower end of a closed sliding door 3 away from theoutside of the car-body, the arrangement of parts is such that there isnot space enough between the inside of said sliding door and the outsideof said separable door members 13 to permit him to enter therein or toreach upwardly therein to manipulate locking pins 54:, and, locking pins5 1 being in looking position same will hold separable door members inclosed position against the force of a crow-bar applied to pockets 2a or20. Moreover, the well-known construction of parts associated with theupper end of closed sliding door 3 are such that access may not be hadto reach said locking pins to manipulate same from above. Thus it willbe seen that doorways 2 are closed by means of the closure of thisinvention securely, effectively, 1

and simply, without operating cumbersome and complicated mechanism andthat the cargo in a car thus closed is safe, en route, againstunauthorized access thereto.

The authorized opening of a doorway closed as described is, also, verysimple. Seal 62 having been broken and sliding door 3 having been movedto open position, Fig. 1, the operator may stand upon the exposedportion of sill-plate 16 and, reaching inwardly through the openingbetween the topmost member 13 and the top of the doorway, he maywithdraw locking pins 5d from locking position, whereupon said separabledoor members 13 may be moved successively 1 or in groups from closingposition in the doorway to stored position in their appropriate storageracks, as shown on the lefthand side in Fig. 4, so that when all of saidseparable door members 13 comprising a complete set for a doorway arestored in said racks they will lie in two tiers, as shown in said Fig.41.

When it is desired to use a doorway 2 without closing same withseparable door members 13 of this invention and merely closing saiddoorway with the ordinary sliding door 3 in the usual manner, saidmembers 13 may be stored out of the way in the storage racks, as shownin said Fig.

4, and guards 59 having been placed in guarding position, as hereinabovedescribed, said stored members will remain in said storage racks andwill not be shaken or moved therefrom by the rocking of a moving trainor the like.

Should it be desired to use any or all of a set of movable door members13 associated with a doorway 3 principally as a retaining wall of anadjusted height across said doorway in any case, such, for instance, asin the case of a car-body I loaded with grain in bulk, any desirednumber of said members 13 may be moved to closing position in saiddoorway, with or without locking pins 54 in locking position, to form atight and substantial retaining wall across said doorway.

An advantage of the present invention is that in loading a car equippedwith the closure emboying this device, the closure in the doorway may bebuilt up member by member as said loading progresses, and, reversely,when unloading the car, the closure may be removed member by member.

Other advantages of this invention are simplicity of construction,fewness of parts, facility of smooth operation without cumbersome orcomplicated mechanism, and a construction and' arrangement of partswhereby a car or the like may be equipped with this'invention when saidcar is being built or afterward without changing the general plan anddesign thereof, and, also, whereby parts of the device may be dismountedand removed for the purpose of repair and the like without dismountingand removing other parts.

It is, of course, understood that the closure embodying the presentinvention may, also, be used in association with doorways and the likeopenings in ware-houses, grain elevators, storage bins, and the like,the specific application thereof in association with car-body l of arailroad freight car described in this specification and shown in theaccompanying drawings being only by way of illustration.

Many changes in the construction, arrangement, and combination of partsmay be made without departing from the nature and spirit of the presentinvention.

It will be observed that the groove at each end of the separable doormembers 13 is positioned a substantial distance from the ends of themembers. One of the objects of so positioning the said grooves is that asubstantial portion of the ends of the mem bers is confined bodilywithin the slideway, thus overcoming all tendency of the members toassume a tangent position with respect to the slideway, the groove beingheld in a substantially parallel position with the flange the groovesbeing wide enough with respect to the thickness of the flange 10 toallow free vertical movement, but sufficiently relatively narrow toprevent the flange assuming a tangent position therein. whereby themembers 13 are free to be slid in said slideways. These groovescooperate with the storage racks to prevent the members 13 from assuminga tangent position on said racks whereby they may be readily removedfrom said racks to their operative position in the slideways of thedoor.

I claim:

1. The combination with a car body having opposite doorway openings of apair of central hangers having upper and lower sockets formed therein,removable end l1angers located adjacent each of the doorway openings,and a pair of rails secured to each of said end hangers, said railslying in the same vertical plane and in spaced relation to each other,the inner end of said rails being freely insertible into said upper andlower sockets of the central hanger.

2. The combination with a car body having opposite doorway openings of apair of central hangers having upper and lower sockets formed therein,removable end hangers located adjacent each of the door av openings, anda pair of rails secured to each of said end hangers, said rails lying inthe same vertical plane and in spaced relation to each other, the innerend of said rails being freely insertible into said upper and lowersockets of the central hangers, and the upper of said rails being ofwedge shape at its outer end and. terminating short of the outer end ofthe lower of said rails.

3. A rack of the character described comprising rails lying in spacedrelation upon opposite sides of a doorway opening and arranged in pairs,the rails of one pair being located one above the other, hangers forsupporting the inner ends of said rails and hangers for supporting theouter ends of said rails, a plurality of separable closure membersadapted to be supported upon said rails, and a retaining member arrangedto engage said rails between said separable members and the outer ofsaid hangers thereby to prevent the removal of the separable membersfrom said rails said retaining member comprising a hook-like portionadapted to engage over the uppermost of said rails, a body portionspanning the space between the top of the upper rail and the bottom ofthe lower rail, and a lateral extension which underlies said lower rail.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a carbody having opposite doorway openings of a closure for said openingscomprising a plurality of separable interengaging members verticallygrooved across their inner faces adjacent to their ends, angle plates ofL-shape in cross section constituting runways in which the ends of saidseparable members are received and in the grooves of which portions ofsaid runways engage, pins arranged to engage apart of the car body in aposition to overlie the uppermost of said separable members, and memberscarried by said pins and arranged to engage beneath portions of theangle plate thereby to retain said pins in position.

5. The combination with a car body hav ing a doorway opening of verticalrunways at the opposite sides of the doorway opening, a closure for thedoorway opening comprising a plurality of separable members the ends ofwhich are disposed to move vertically in said runways, said runwayscomprising portions which overlap the end por tions of said separablemembers, and a pin having a crank end which engages a portion of the carbody above the uppermost of said separable members and the crank end ofwhich is of such length as to engage beneath said overlapping portion ofthe runway thereby to retain said pin in position.

6. The-combination with a car body having a doorway opening of an outerdoor for closing said opening and an inner closure comprising aplurality of separable members, vertical runways at the opposite sidesof the doorway opening in which the ends of said separable members areslidably mounted, a pin engaging a portion of the car body above theuppermost of said separable members and in position to prevent upwardmovement of said separable members, and means carried by said pin forengaging a portion of the adjacent runway whereby said pin is heldagainst dislodgement, said separable members being of such number as toterminate short of the top of the doorway opening, whereby an opening isleft above the uppermost of said separable members, said pin beingaccessible through said opening when the outer door is opened andinaccessiblethrough said opening when the outer door is closed.

7 In a closure for the opposite doorways of a freight car and the like,the combination, with an outer sliding door for each of said doorways,of an inner closure for each of said doorways, each of said innerclosures comprising a plurality of separable members having groovedend-portions, a pair of vertically-grooved guides borne adjacentopposite sides of each doorway, said members being adapted to be'mountedacross said doorway slidably supported in said guides in engagement inthe grooves of said end-portions, and overhead storage racks for saidmembers within said car, said racks comprising parallel rails adapted tosupport said members in slidable engagement in the grooves of saidend-portions, said rails being divided transversely substantiallyintermediate said doorways, a pair of hangers, each hanger being adaptedas a common support for removably supporting adj aoent ends of saidrails at said division and adapted, also, as a means to limit the inwardmove ment of said separable members stored in said racks, and two pairsof removable hangers, each pair being adapted to support the other endsof said rails adjacent toia corresponding doorway' In testimony whereofI hereunto aflix my signature.

CHARLES W. WHITE.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner Patents, Washington, D. G."

